Nagpur to enter strict weeklong lockdown from March 15

KEY STORY

• Nagpur city and some adjoining areas will enter a strict weeklong lockdown from March 15, district guardian minister Nitin Raut announced on Thursday.

• “Nagpur has been witnessing increase in Covid patients. Hence it has been decided that all the areas under the jurisdiction of Nagpur Police Commissionerate will be under total lockdown between March 15 and 21,” Raut said at a press conference.

• The minister further said, “Except for 25 per cent attendance in government offices and industries, all other establishments and non-essential shops will remain closed for the period and police have been directed to ensure strict curfew in these areas.”

• Apart from the Nagpur Municipal Corporation area, lockdown will also be imposed in adjoining towns like Kamptee, Koradi and Hingna.

   

• Offices that have to carry out financial year-end operations will be allowed to function with full capacity, Raut said.

• Essential services like medicine and grocery shops, hospitals, milk and vegetables and fruits outlets will remain open. Liquor shops and eateries will remain closed, but home delivery will be allowed. Shops selling meat will also be allowed to remain open.

• “Importantly, Covid vaccination will go on as scheduled with only one attendant being allowed with the recipients,” Raut also said.

• Nagpur has been witnessing steady rise in daily count of Covid positive cases. On Wednesday, the city recorded 1,710 cases.

• Maharashtra recorded 1.31 lakh new Covid cases in February, up from 92,177 recorded in January and 1.20 lakh in December.

• But deaths, on a positive note, have reduced from 2,370 in December to 1,561 in January and 1,072 in February.

• In Mumbai, active infections rose from 5,296 a month ago to 9,373 till Tuesday as a result of local train services functioning again for the public.

• Amravati, Yavatmal, Mumbai, Akola and parts of Vidarbha emerged as worrying districts with cases rising from around February 9. A weekly analysis of all districts shows maximum rise has been recorded in Pune, Nagpur, Mumbai, Thane, Jalgaon, Akola, Aurangabad, and Washim.

CONCLUSION

• Five districts — Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Mumbai and Amravati — contribute to 59.4 per cent of the state’s active caseload.

• However, Amravati is now nothing a gentle decline in fresh cases owing to stricter lockdown measures. From 1,144 active cases until February 9 to 6,446 cases until February 25, the active caseload is now down to 5,373 positive cases.

• In February, lockdown was imposed in parts of three Vidarbha districts from 5 am on February 23 to 5 am on March 1.